JOSH CLAIMS: He would have voted no on the auto rescue, despite the fact that it helped protect nearly 850,000 Ohio jobs.

THE TRUTH: Not only would Josh Mandel have endangered 850,000 Ohio jobs, but he called Sherrod “un-American” for supporting the auto rescue.

1. After refusing to even discuss the auto rescue for months, Josh Mandel revealed his opposition to the auto rescue by calling Sherrod’s vote for it “un-American.” [Columbus Dispatch, 8/25/12]

2. Days later he doubled down, declaring that Sherrod “should be ashamed of himself” for voting for the auto rescue. [Sun-Star Courier, 8/31/12]

3. In the last debate Josh Mandel finally admitted he would have voted no against the auto rescue. [Toledo Blade, 10/15/12]

Mandel:  The Vote For The Auto Rescue Package Was “Un-American.”  In August 2012, The Columbus Dispatch wrote, “In their first head-to-head meeting of this election season, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel described Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown as ‘un-American.’  ‘I don’t toss around the word un-American very often — it’s a dangerous word to use. But stripping … Delphi employees of their pensions with that vote — that is un-American,’ Mandel said during a sit-down with Brown and editors and reporters of The Dispatch.  ‘While Josh was running for treasurer in 2009 and 2010, I guess he missed how this auto industry was going to implode,’ Brown replied. ‘And to say that my votes closed plants or that my votes caused Delphi workers to lose their pensions or that my votes caused other tragedies and devastations in the auto industry is peculiar when all four auto companies in Ohio and almost the entire supply chain … wanted this because they knew the auto industry might implode.’”  [Columbus Dispatch, ellipses original, 8/25/12]

Mandel Made An “Impassioned Critique” Of The Auto Rescue and Said The Rescue Saving 850,000 Jobs Was A “Ridiculous Argument.” In August 2012, The Columbus Dispatch stated, “Mandel also said the cost of the loans was ‘outrageous,’ that Honda and Ford plants still would be open in Ohio, and that Brown’s arguing the bailout saved 850,000 Ohio jobs is a ‘ridiculous argument.’ He issued an impassioned critique of the bailout, saying evidence showing it ‘didn’t work’ was the Mansfield-Ontario stamping plant’s shutting down in 2009. He said Brown’s vote closed the plant.” [Columbus Dispatch, 8/25/12]

“Mandel’s Dubious Of The Facts Was One Thing, But His ‘Un-American’ Crack Privately Left Some Republicans Aghast.”  In a September 2012 op-ed published in The Columbus Dispatch, Jack Torry wrote “Mandel’s dubious use of the facts was one thing, but his ‘un-American’ crack privately left some Republicans aghast. They harked back to the 1988 Senate race when Republican George V. Voinovich aired a commercial accusing Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, of being soft on child pornography.”  [Columbus Dispatch, op-ed, 9/3/12]

Mandel:  Sherrod Brown “Should Be Ashamed Of Himself” For Auto Rescue Vote.  In August 2012, The Sun-News reported “Mandel said Brown’s vote left 20,000 non-union employees at a parts supplier to General Motors with a smaller pension, at a campaign fundraiser hosted by Strongsville Mayor Thomas Perciak at J. Bella’s Aug. 30.  ‘I believe when hard-working citizens have earned their pension, it’s wrong for Washington bureaucrats and politicians to take their pensions away,’ Mandel said in an interview with the Sun Star-Courier before his speech to about 50 donors. ‘I think Sherrod Brown should be ashamed of himself for stripping middle-class families of their pensions.’”  [Sun-Star Courier, 8/31/12]

Mandel On Auto Rescue: “I Would Not Have Voted For That.”  In October 2012, the Toledo Blade reported that Mandel said of the auto rescue “I would not have voted for that. I couldn’t have.” [Toledo Blade, 10/15/12]